Time: Wed Aug 06 19:47:19 1997
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Tue, 5 Aug 1997 19:42:14 -0700 (MST)
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 1997 19:41:17 -0700
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar]
Subject: SLS: Waco Update from Carol Moore (fwd)
<snip>
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>NOTE: Carol Moore (no relation) is the author of "The Davidian Massacre:
>Disturbing Questions About Waco Which Must Be Answered," available in
>paperback from Legacy Communications and the Gun Owners Foundation. Orders
>should be directed to Legacy Communications, P.O. Box 680365, Franklin,
>Tennessee 37068. All other inquiries should be sent to Gun Owners
>Foundation, 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151. For
>special sales and bulk orders call 1-800-417-1486.
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>
>WACO UPDATE AUGUST 5, 1997
>
>by Carol Moore
>Member, the Committee for Waco Justice
>Author, The Davidian Massacre
>
>DAVIDIAN RE-SENTENCING DATE SET
> Judge Walter J. Smith will re-sentence Branch
>Davidians Brad Branch, Kevin Whitecliff, Jaime
>Castillo, Renos Avraam, and Graeme Craddock on
>Thursday, September 4th in Waco. The Davidian
>prisoners are expected to be present. The Fifth
>Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Smith could not
>sentence four Davidians to 30 years and one to ten
>years for carrying an illegal weapon during a crime
>(that of conspiracy of murder, of which all were
>acquitted) unless he provided sufficient evidence from
>the record that each Davidian actually carried such a
>weapon. Otherwise he could sentence them to only five
>years. Other District Courts have ruled that only a
>jury can decide if an individual carried an illegal
>weapon, making it likely that if Smith gives them
>sentences longer than five years, the Supreme Court
>will take the case.
> There is evidence that only two Davidians carried
>such weapons: Craddock's confession he was told he was
>given an illegal grenade; and a jail house snitch's
>allegation Avraam boasted that he had shot one on
>February 28, 1993. The only other evidence is the
>allegations of some ATF agents they heard automatic gun
>fire on February 28 (ATF agents themselves carried
>defacto automatics) and the FBI's claim it found 47
>burned up illegal weapons after the fire. (They also
>found one pristine automatic in the back of a van on
>the property--a van which was open for 51 days and was
>towed away from the premises under lax security before
>the gun was found.)
> It might help if many of you wrote *polite*
>letters to Judge Smith asking him to have mercy on the
>Davidians and sentence them to time served on these
>weapons charges. Or just remind him of the legal facts
>and how embarrassing it will be if he is reversed by
>the Supreme Court! (Even if he does not impose more
>than five years, four Davidians can still appeal to the
>Supreme Court on the grounds they deserve a new trial
>because Smith never told the jury they could find
>Davidians innocent of aiding and abetting voluntary
>manslaughter in the case of self-defense and because
>the judge should have thrown out the gun convictions
>since they were supposed to be tied only to the murder
>sentences.)
> Write to: Judge Walter Smith, Jr. , Courtroom
>301, U.S. Courthouse, 800 Franklin Avenue, Waco,
>Texas. Mention U.S. vs. Brad Branch, et al or Case W-93-CR-046.
> "A government that is evil has no room for good
>people except in its prisons." M.K. Gandhi
>
>UPDATED PRISONER ADDRESSES
> Three Davidian prisoners--Brad Branch, Jaime
>Castillo and Kevin Whitecliff--have been moved to the
>"higher security" new facility at Beaumont, Texas.
>They are able to visit with one and other there. Paul
>Fatta has been moved to a prison in Arizona. Since
>they are now in newer, air conditioned facilities, and
>closer to their families, they are not unhappy with the
>move. If you would like to write any of the eight
>prisoners, e-mail me for the updated address list.
><cmoore@capaccess.org>
>
>JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATING KORESH'S GUN DEALER'S
>CHARGES AGAINST ATF AGENTS
> After ATF's brutal February 28, 1993 attack on the
>Davidians, Henry McMahon, David Koresh's gun dealer,
>would have happily told the FBI and the press that the
>Davidians' large purchases were for legitimate business
>purposes and not part of some nefarious cultist gun
>plot. That is why on March 1, 1993 ATF agents spirited
>him and his girlfriend Karen Kilpatrick away from their
>new home in Florida, claiming Davidians were coming to
>kill them. Once ATF got them to McMahon's father's in
>Oregon, ATF agents threatened to destroy McMahon's gun
>business if he spoke out. McMahon recorded the calls.
>ATF brought them back to Texas a few weeks later and
>ATF agents Davy Aguilera and Dale Littleton threatened
>to have them prosecuted for conspiracy if they did not
>waive their rights and speak to agents. Littleton
>pushed Kilpatrick up against a wall. This is certainly
>worse than what the FBI did to Richard Jewell!
> McMahon and Kilpatrick originally spoke with the
>NRA, which later lost interest in their case, and they
>could not raise enough money to file a civil suit
>against ATF and its agents within the statute of
>limitations. They contacted Senator Spector who was
>going to call them for hearings last fall against ATF.
>He then canceled the hearings because ATF was doing
>such a "good job" investigating church burnings.
> However, Spector did support McMahon and
>Kilpatrick when they filed a complaint with the
>Department of Justice (through their local prosecutors)
>against the ATF agents. They recently were interviewed
>by the FBI and have been told by Justice Department
>attorneys they have a very prosecutable case against
>the ATF agents. In fact, the case may go before a
>grand jury.
> Unfortunately, the Washington and major press have
>not yet picked up on this story, something sure to make
>the always-reluctant Justice Department find some excuse
>for not bring this abuse of citizens' rights to
>a grand jury. So feel free to get this story out to
>whatever press you know. Have them contact me for the
>McMahon's phone number. They are happy to tell their
>story. <cmoore@capaccess.org>
> (Note: McMahon and Kirkpatrick have a web page
>(http://www.dmi.net/waco/) but no e-mail address. Also
>note: McMahon likes to correct the oft-made assertion
>he was a Class III gun dealer in the state of Texas, which
>he was not. He was previously a Class Dealer in
>another state.)
>
>BUILDING A NEW MOUNT CARMEL
> Several Davidian followers of David Koresh from
>around the country who met for the April 19 memorial
>were quite upset that the ex-wife and several friends
>of George Roden (the former Davidian leader who is
>incarcerated indefinitely for murder in a mental
>institution) have been trying to keep them off the 77
>acre Mount Carmel property. The squatters even
>brandished weapons at them and one will soon go on
>trial.
> As the Waco Tribune-Herald reported in June,
>Davidian survivors have decided to press ahead with
>legal efforts to have these squatters permanently
>evicted. In fact, fire survivor Clive Doyle, his
>mother and several other elderly Davidian women have
>decided to pool their resources and set up trailers and
>live at Mount Carmel once again. This is very brave,
>considering that vandals have started several fires out
>there and recently burned down three shacks built by
>the squatters. The Davidians had been paying the taxes
>on the property through their lawyers. Unfortunately,
>the lawyers fell behind a few months and Roden's
>friends--who threw Amo Roden herself off the property
>for a while--paid several thousand dollars worth of
>taxes.
> A hearing is scheduled for September 29th in
>Waco's 19th State District Court over the ownership
>Mount Carmel. Davidian survivors are assured the Roden
>faction's squatting and tax payments will not affect
>their legal rights and are optimistic they will be able
>to legally retake Mount Carmel in the fall.
> If you would like to write them for their price
>list of books, videos and audio tapes and otherwise
>support their efforts write: Mount Carmel Survivors
>Memorial Fund, Inc., Box 120, Axtell, TX. If you want
>to order the most popular items right away, send $20
>each (including postage) for the videos "Inside Mount
>Carmel" (Davidians speak out during the siege) or "Day
>51" (an overview of government crimes vs. the
>Davidians). Send $2.00 each for assorted David Koresh
>sermons on audio tape and ask for the price list of the
>many sermons available.
>
>CAUSE FOUNDATION SPEAKS OUT ON STRASSMEIR CONNECTION
> Kirk Lyon's Cause Foundation has been working for
>justice for the Davidians from just after
>the siege began in 1993. They are now working with a
>large Houston law firm on the Davidian civil suits.
>Cause Foundation has been questioned and criticized
>because of its association and representation of Andy
>Strassmeir who lived at Elohim City for a couple of
>years. Some link him to the Oklahoma City bombing
>conspiracy. The Cause Foundation finally has spoken
>out on their relation to Strassmeir on their web page
>http://207.15.176.3/cause.
> Cause's Spring 1997 newsletter also describes
>their complaint against the FBI with the Justice
>Department's Office of Professional Responsibility.
>They complained because for the Oklahoma City bombing
>investigation the FBI subpoenaed the phone records of
>the Cause Foundation. (It did discover that Timothy
>McVeigh called the office the day before the bombing.
>Staffers there remember someone calling telling them
>their efforts to get justice for the Davidians could
>not succeed.)
> However, because the Cause Foundation is a law
>office involved in the largest lawsuit ever filed
>against the FBI and the federal government, Cause
>considers this to be "an outrageous abuse of the
>police-state powers that this government has arrogated
>to itself." Cause wonders if the FBI also was tapping
>its lines during their investigation. It will be
>interesting to see if the Justice Department takes this
>complaint at all seriously.
>
>40% BELIEVE FBI STARTED FIRE AT MOUNT CARMEL
> A recent Scripps Howard News Service and Scripps
>School of Journalism poll of "conspiracy fears" among
>the American public revealed that 40% of Americans
>believe that it is very or somewhat likely that "The
>FBI deliberately set the fires that destroyed the
>Branch Davidian compound in Waco Texas, in 1993." (An
>obviously confused Washington Post columnists reported
>several weeks later that it was a Washington Post
>poll.) What was not clear was whether those voting yes
>included those who believe that FBI tanks merely
>smashed away at the building til it inevitably caught
>fire, as opposed to directly lighting it through some
>flame mechanism. Asked that way, the answer probably
>would have been closer to 70% of the American people
> Other responses included: 51% believe it is very
>or somewhat likely federal officials were responsible
>for the Kennedy assassination; 52% believe it is very
>or somewhat likely CIA pushes drugs in the inner- cities;
>39% believe it is very or somewhat likely the
>U.S. Navy accidently or purposely shot down TWA Flight
>800 in 1996; 80% believe the military is withholding
>evidence of Iraqi use of nerve gas or germ warfare
>during the Gulf War.
>
>NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE ADVANCEMENT OF FEDERAL LAW
>ENFORCEMENT
> In late June President Clinton signed the
>emergency appropriations bill providing relief to
>flood-stricken states. The bill also provides funding
>for the National Commission on the
>Advancement of Federal Law Enforcement--more than a
>year after the group was authorized to study federal
>law enforcement. The NRA, ACLU and other groups were
>responsible for this coup.
> Despite the Commission's pro-law enforcement
>sounding title, many of us hoped the Commission would
>look into some of the issues of federal law enforcement
>abuses that Congressional Weaver, Waco and other
>hearings have not brought to light. However, some
>doubt it can do so since the law did not give the
>Commission subpoena power.
> Moreover, its members, appointed by Congress, are
>largely establishment types who doubtless support the
>proposition "it's more important to protect federal law
>enforcement than to protect the people from federal law
>enforcement." It's chair is former CIA Director William
>Webster, who at least has expressed some criticism of
>the FBI. Victoria Toensing, a former Justice
>Department Attorney specializing in terrorism, and a
>frequent pro-law enforcement television commentator,
>has had nothing nice to say about the Branch Davidians
>in interviews. Donald Dahlin is a Professor of
>Political Science at the University of South Dakota.
>Robert Stewart is Chief of the North Carolina state law
>division.
> House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt appointed the
>Fraternal Order of Police President Gil Gallegos to the
>Commission "to protect the rights and reputations of
>federal officers." In a later press release, the
>Fraternal Order labeled the ACLU, NRA and other groups
>that promoted the Commission an "Extremist Coalition."
>In a press release the FOP "opposed this legislation
>very strongly, based on our belief that this
>"Commission" would be nothing more than a civilian
>review board for federal officers," and argued that the
>executive and congressional branches had "exhaustively"
>reviewed past incidents and the Commission's
>investigations might put law enforcement at risk. So I
>am afraid we can expect a good deal of sabotage but
>very little light or action on either past or future
>abuses of power by federal agents--or prosecutors.
> An interesting WWW site maintained at Syracuse
>University follows the regulatory and enforcement
>activities of the FBI, IRS, BATF, and DEA. Called
>Transaction Records Access Clearinghouse, it contains
>some surprising facts and figures. See:
>http://trac.syr.edu .
>
>FBI AGENTS "TWISTING IN THE WIND"
> In late July Senator Arlen Specter, a member of
>the Senate Judiciary Committee, complained that U.S.
>Attorney Michael Stiles' investigation of the death of
>Vicki Weaver, shot by FBI agents in 1992, was not yet
>completed and therefore was effectively leaving the
>accused agents "twisting in the wind." Of course, the
>investigation is not so much into the fact that she was
>killed, but into the fact that agents and official
>refuse to admit personal responsibility for giving the
>"shoot on sight" order that probably led to her death.
>Some also may have illegally destroyed evidence of who
>gave the order. Since FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi was
>acting on illegal orders, the Justice Department is
>absolving him of all personal responsibility for the
>murder if Vicki Weaver.
>
>MERLETTI NEW HEAD OF SECRET SERVICE
> In early June Lewis C. Merletti, who led the
>Treasury Department's investigation of the 1993 raid on
>the Branch Davidians, was sworn in as the 19th director
>of the Secret Service. The Treasury Report, while
>allowing some criticism of the planning and execution
>of the raid, promoted the government lies that the
>Davidians shot first, ambushing federal agents. It
>also totally failed to address serious allegations that
>agents shot from helicopters, killing four Davidians.
>Nor did it admit that BATF agents actually lied to the
>army about Davidian's involvement in drugs in order to
>receive free aid and special forces training that would
>not have been permitted without the drug connection.
> With someone who misses that much evidence of
>crimes in charge of the Secret Service, one must wonder
>about the safety of the president and of the currency
>system. Assassins and counterfeiter must feel safe
>with Merletti in charge!
>
>COMMENTS ON FILM "WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT"
> I saw the 2 hour 15 minute version playing in
>Washington, DC in mid-June. (More editing is promised
>and inevitable before it is finally released on video
>at some time in the future.)
> The film attempts to prove that federal agents are
>guilty of murdering the Davidians and does a good job
>of it. (Unlike Fox's July 30th "Prophecies of the
>Millennium" which repeated every government-media lie
>about crazed suicidal cults.) Besides much footage
>we've all seen, it shows new material that just
>reinforces what we all know: ATF initiated a vicious
>raid and killed Davidians and their FBI buddies were
>*not* interested in allowing Davidians who defended
>themselves to survive the siege and April 19th gas and
>tank attack.
> Particularly startling new material included: the
>audio tape of ATF agent Jim Cavanaugh, who at the House
>hearings claimed bullet holes in the Davidians' highest
>roof came from ATF agents shooting *up* into it--he
>admits to David Koresh that agents were armed, and
>perhaps shooting from helicopters; what does seem to be
>actual footage of a helicopter approaching the water
>tower and shooting Davidian Peter Gent who was on it;
>Davidian Steve Schneider complains ATF can "erase all
>evidence to cover your butts if you want."; Koresh's
>grandmother's attorney relates how when he and the
>grandmother got to check point, Brannon heard an agent
>say, "I hope she told him goodbye."; excellent computer
>animation of the spread of the fire from one point of
>origin; Tarrant County Medical Examiner Peerwani
>complains the FBI confiscated the County's videos of
>the bodies in the rubble and then claimed to have lost
>them.
> I myself remain un-convinced by the proffered FLIR
>evidence that FBI agents shot guns at the Davidians
>during the fire. While I certainly think that is possible
>this happened, the light streaks pointed out in the film
>either seemed more likely to be from the shooting off
>of ferret rounds or from some other heat sources. I
>also doubted light streaks indicated agents shot very
>close to the building at about the same time a Davidian
>exited that area and escaped unharmed. The final proof,
>of course, would lie in confessions by FBI agents who
>witnessed or did the shooting. And we're not likely to
>get that unless we get a government willing to
>prosecute culpable agents. Unfortunately, some
>publications, like the Washington Post, have tried to
>make or break the film--and the whole "Waco story"--on
>the strength of these gunfire assertions. However,
>overall the film still overwhelms one with the great
>injustice done.
> The film could have been better organized to make
>and emphasize its points. Also, the minimal narration
>which allowed events and individuals to speak for
>themselves sometimes left even Waco buffs confused.
>And there were a few factual errors, such as the
>assertion Michael Schroeder was killed outside Mount
>Carmel on April 19th, when it was February 28th.
>Nevertheless, it is the most hardhitting and commercial
>film produced so far and evidence that even mainstream
>news people are still open to investigating the crimes
>against the Branch Davidians.
>
>NEW BOOK: NO MORE WACOS
> David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman, two well
>known Second Amendment writers and activists, have
>released their 524 page hardback "No More Wacos:
>What's Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How to Fix It."
>It is published by Prometheus Books and is in most
>major bookstore. The book is chock full of facts, and
>critical of federal government actions.
> I found its greatest failing to be factual errors
>and dubious interpretations based upon the authors'
>failure to interview Davidian survivors and attorneys.
>At a recent talk the authors said they did not believe
>there was a conspiracy against the Davidians, even as
>they had to admit the book exposed exhaustive efforts
>by federal agents and officials to coverup what really
>happened. Despite their attempts to be "even handed"
>toward federal law enforcement, I'm sure most readers
>will come away quite disgusted with the feds, so the
>book is a definite plus on those grounds!
>
>LOUIS FREEH REJECTS THE DAVIDIAN MASSACRE, PART TWO
> In our first installment of the story, I had
>received a letter from the Inspector in Charge of the
>FBI Office of Public and Congressional Affairs,
>attached to my returned book and written materials,
>saying: "regulations applicable to Department of
>Justice employees preclude Director Freeh from
>accepting items such as this." I finally got a chance
>to talk to an agent in Public Affairs who told me that
>Department of Justice employees are prohibited from
>receiving gifts. I then asked if Janet Reno was out of
>compliance, since she hadn't returned hers. Annoyed,
>he told me I'd have to talk to her people about that.
> I then pointed out that this wasn't a gift, just
>me as a citizen providing the FBI Director with a book
>I'd written and other materials hoping this would open
>his eyes to crimes by his underlings. He told me that
>the FBI will take complaints based on cold hard facts--
>he got angrier and more revved up as he repeated
>several times over--but it doesn't want *hearsay*,
>*opinions*, or *conclusions* based on newspaper
>articles or government reports or whatever. "We want
>facts!" he almost shouted. I said, "Oh, you mean like
>an audio tape of an FBI confessing to killing all those
>Davidians?" He didn't like that question.
> Then I asked if the Davidian survivors could file
>complaints about FBI agents' behavior during the siege
>or on April 19th. He grudgingly snapped back, "Yes."
>"That's fantastic," I said, and profusely thanked him
>for his help. I contacted one of the Davidian civil
>suit attorneys who said that while such an
>administrative complaint was an option for the
>Davidians, it was a waste of limited energy and money,
>especially since the civil suits covered the same
>ground. Of course, if Judge Smith throws out the civil
>suits, filing these complaints remains an option for
>Davidian survivors.
> For information about ordering my book THE DAVIDIAN MASSACRE,
>including steep discounts for a box
>of books, contact me. Carol Moore cmoore@capaccess.org
>202/635-3739.
>
<snip>
========================================================================
Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness
B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine
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========================================================================
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